This Guy Forced His Six-month-pregnant Wife on a Steep Hike to Cure Her “Couch Potato” Phase and He is Actually Surprised She Got Sick

Every once in a while, you read a story that makes you want to reach through the screen and personally hand someone a biology textbook. We’ve seen some pretty clueless partners on the internet, but one guy on Reddit is currently taking the crown for the most out-of-touch husband of the year. Imagine your wife is literally growing a human being inside her body, and your main concern is that she’s becoming a “couch potato” and might embarrass you in front of the boys. If you have ever wanted to see a man completely fail at the “supportive spouse” assignment, this is the one.

The Original Poster (OP) decided that his wife, who is six months pregnant, needed a little “motivation.” According to him, she has let herself go and has been “moody” lately, so he figured a three-mile hike with his friends was exactly what the doctor ordered. Never mind the fact that her center of gravity has shifted, her organs are being squished, and her blood volume has increased by nearly 50 percent. To him, she was just being lazy, and a steep trail was the perfect way to get her back into shape.

The group set off, and to the surprise of absolutely nobody except the OP, the wife started struggling about a third of the way up. She was huffing and puffing, which the OP seems to think was some sort of personal failure rather than, you know, a physiological necessity. His friends actually had the common sense to slow down, but the OP was busy being “shocked” that his wife had lost her fitness so quickly. It is as if he thinks pregnancy is a light vacation and not a marathon that lasts forty weeks.

Things went from bad to worse when the wife turned pale and actually started throwing up on the trail. Instead of being a concerned husband and rushing to her side with water and a cool towel, the OP was busy worrying about his reputation. He actually had the nerve to think she was “embarrassing” him. Because obviously, the most important thing when your pregnant wife is vomiting on a mountain is how your bros perceive your “alpha” status.

When they finally made it back to the parking lot, the OP decided to double down on the sh!t behavior. He pulled his friends aside to “apologize for his wife’s behavior.” Yes, he apologized for her being a pregnant human with physical limits. Unfortunately for him, the wife was within earshot and heard every single word of his pathetic “I’m sorry she’s like this” speech. And honestly? We are cheering for her because she absolutely lost it on him once they got to the car.

She called him an idiot and a “grade A ahole,” which feels like a massive understatement. But the OP, in his infinite “politeness,” decided that this was the perfect time to give her a lecture on personal responsibility. He asked her if she thought she would have felt so sick if she hadn’t been such a “couch potato” recently. He truly believed that if he just explained it clearly enough, she would realize that her morning sickness and physical exhaustion were her own fault for not hitting the gym hard enough.

The level of narcissism required to think you are the victim in this situation is truly breathtaking. The OP is “sad” because his wife won’t engage with him after he humiliated her in front of his friends and blamed her for her own pregnancy symptoms. He wants her to take “responsibility” for her body reacting to a steep hike while she’s carrying an extra twenty-plus pounds of baby, placenta, and fluid. It is a level of medical ignorance that is honestly scary.

Let’s be real for a second: the “moodiness” he mentioned is likely just her reacting to being married to a man who views her as a fitness project rather than a partner. If you are six months pregnant and your husband is calling you a couch potato while you’re trying to survive the third trimester, you aren’t “moody,” you are rightfully p!ssed off. The fact that he compared their breakfast—stating that he didn’t get sick so she shouldn’t have either—proves he has no idea how pregnancy hormones work.

The “embarrassment” factor is what really makes this a “dump him” level offense. His friends were likely horrified, not by the pregnant woman struggling to breathe, but by the husband who was clearly annoyed by her existence. Most people see a pregnant woman on a steep trail and think, “Wow, she’s a rockstar.” Only this guy looked at her and thought, “Ugh, she’s ruining my Saturday vibes with the guys.”

The OP is wondering if he’s the ahole, and the answer is a resounding, echoing yes. He didn’t just pick a bad hike; he showed his wife that his ego is more important than her safety or her dignity. He treated her like a dog that hadn’t been walked enough rather than a woman creating life. If she’s “holding a grudge,” it’s probably because she’s realized she’s about to have two babies to take care of—the one in her literal womb and the one currently pouting in the driver’s seat.

So, NTA? Not even close. He is the ultimate “grade A ahole.” We hope the wife stays on that couch for the next three months, eats whatever she wants, and finds a very good divorce lawyer or at least a very long-term therapist for this man. If he thinks he’s “sad” now, wait until he realizes that nobody is going to take his side on this one.

What would you do if your partner tried to “exercise” the pregnancy out of you? Is there any world where a three-mile steep hike is an “easy” trip for someone in their third trimester? Let us know in the comments if you think this guy needs a serious reality check before the baby arrives!